


Twenty Things Sam and Gabe Saw on a Road Trip Across America

by Kibbers



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AND SHENANIGANS, Bird Feeding, Confessions, Desert, Dogs, Established Relationship, Fluff, It's all fluff, M/M, Road Trip, Storms, and cats, corn maze, gas stations, hand holding, metal dinosaur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-27
Updated: 2015-10-27
Packaged: 2018-04-28 11:12:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5088500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kibbers/pseuds/Kibbers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Gabe go on a road trip across America...fluff ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twenty Things Sam and Gabe Saw on a Road Trip Across America

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by [ this ](http://roachpatrol.tumblr.com/post/121974900047/things-you-will-see-on-a-road-trip-across-america) post on Tumblr. Let me know what you think! Also, come say hi on Tumblr [ here ](www.kibberswrites.tumlr.com)!
> 
> Translated into German [ here ](http://www.fanfiktion.de/s/565b80d7000118b21747aaac/1/Twenty-Things-Sam-and-Gabe-Saw-on-a-Road-Trip-Across-America-Ubersetzung-), so go check that out!

1

They’d taken off running, once they’d saved everyone, hitting the road, the world and its troubles forgotten in exchange for their own. One Sasquatch of a human and one fallen angel crammed into a car together. The car was seeping soft music to fill the empty space and Gabriel stared out the window from the passenger seat. Around them, the scenery had morphed into reds and browns. Desert stretched for miles and miles and miles. That morning, as the sun came u from behind a mountain off in the distance, the sky was, for a moment, the same color as the pale dust of the desert. It made Gabriel’s eyes hurt. It made his chest ache. For green or blue or anything but this muted brown that seemed to fill his throat with its choking dust despite the closed windows. There was not another car in sight. Gabriel didn’t even know where they were, lost their location almost as soon as the trip began. He guessed Arizona. Or New Mexico. Or somewhere in between.

2

When the sun finally came all the way up and the sky turned blue again, Gabriel still felt uneasy. There we no clouds here. Just blue sky and brown dirt and the road going on for forever and ever and ever. He hadn’t ever seen this, not from down here. He had always been watching from above. Watched the ant-sized cars zig zag across the world sometimes when he was younger. Now he knew what it felt like to be the ant. He had never felt so small.  He looked over at Sammy, eyes forward on the road as he hummed along to the song on the radio.

“What?” Sam asked when he noticed Gabriel looking.

Gabe turned his gaze back out the window into the oblivion. “Nothing.”

Sam frowned and took Gabe’s hand, wrapping it in his own. He smiled sideways at Gabriel and Gabriel felt the uneasiness of the world around him loosen. Sam, still clasping Gabriel’s hand in his own, lifted it to his mouth and sang the words into it like a microphone. Gabriel laughed and the big bad world outside their air-conditioned haven was forgotten. For now at least.

3

Sam’s sharp inhale woke Gabriel from a nap against the window, his neck aching and stiff. They were still nowhere. Not really. He blinked awake to see something his still-half-asleep mind couldn’t quite grasp. He squinted to get a better look, the sun glinting off something huge and metallic in the distance. A dinosaur made of what had to be ten different types of metal stood outside an old gas station. The store attached was made of wood, one of its windows was shattered and the other fingerprint smudged into oblivion. Sam kept his face forward, but his gaze kept darting to the scrap-metal statue as they neared.

“Let’s stop.” Gabriel said.

“We shouldn’t. We’ve got to get to a hotel by sundown.”

“I’ll drive the nightshift. 20/20 vision, remember? Come on Sammy. Please?” He pleaded.

Sam sighed, but a smile slid its way onto his face as he turned into the lot. They spent much too long staring up at the metallic beast in awe. The afternoon sun beat down on them and the dinosaur, threatening to blind them in the reflection.

“Smile,” Sam said, his phone poised to take a picture.

They took too many goofy pictures and bought way too much candy in the little run-down shop, the old wrinkled man behind the counter flashing them a gap-toothed smile. That was their favorite gas station the entire trip. A few days later, Gabriel saw the picture of them, Gabriel pressing a kiss to Sam’s cheek while the dinosaur loomed in the distance, set as Sam’s phone background. Definitely his favorite gas station.

4

“Here,” Sam said holding something soft and dripping up to Gabriel’s lips. They’d wandered into a farmers market one Saturday morning after stopping in a small town to sleep the night before. He knew they were somewhere in California, but that was as far as he cared to know. Sam woke him up with bright eyes and dragged him out of the hotel to find the dirt road running through the town covered with little booths. Sam smiled, calling out greetings to everyone they met and Gabriel felt his exhaustion melt away. He shrugged. It wasn’t like they’d be able to get out of town anyway, the dirt road the only way out.

He bit into…whatever it was flavor exploded through his mouth as he chewed, sickly sweet and deliciously juicy. He opened his eyes to find Sam, the fruit still in his hand, eyebrows raised expectantly. He was lit up, eyes dancing, and Gabriel couldn’t help but tug Sam down into a sticky sweet kiss, his fingers tangling in Sam’s hair and smearing juice from the fruit there too. When he pulled away, Sam slid his hand into Gabe’s and they spent the morning strolling through the market, gorging themselves on samples of everything. Sam had a way of charming people, though, and they left the market bogged down with baskets of fresh-baked muffins, a mountain of organic fruit, and a hand-knitted blanket softer than anything Gabriel had ever felt before. They the food in the backseat, bellies too full from samples to think about eating anymore. Sam fell asleep, drooling against the window, and Gabriel reached into he back to get the blanket so he could drape it around Sam.  Sam, even in his sleep, still had a smile on his face.

5

At a rest stop with concrete benches, a drooping umbrella, and no one else in sight, Sam plopped down two orders of soggy French-fries in paper containers. They ate them despite the lack of taste, and watched the cars pass them by.

“Where are we?” Gabriel asked.

“Oregon.”

The greenery had returned and Gabriel was glad for it. Two black birds hopped towards him, close enough to touch. Gabriel tossed a fry towards them and watched them fight over it while the sun beat down. Soon they were surrounded by birds, four then six then ten. Gabriel sighed and tossed a handful down into the dirt. What could he say, he was a sucker for the little guys. One landed on the bench beside him, its entire body gleaming black, and its head cocked. It had only one leg.

“Look, Sammy. He’s only got one leg. Let’s name him Peggy.”

“Peggy?” Sam quirked an eyebrow.

“Yeah, get it? One leg…peg leg…Peggy?”

Sam shook his head at the terrible joke, huffing laugh, and tossed the bird the rest of his fries.

6

At the same deserted rest stop, with the grease of the French fries still on their fingers, Sam got up to throw their trash away and came back with his hand wrapped around something.

“Whatcha got there?” Gabriel asked.

“Look,” Sam said, opening his hand. A small stone, white and sparkling, sat in his palm, luminous in the sun. As it rolled, it reflected every color of the rainbow. Gabriel’s breath caught. It was beautiful.

“Here, for you.” Gabriel took it with a smile, rolled it between his fingers as they walked back to the car. He set it on the dashboard and there it stayed for the rest of the trip.

7

Why the hell were they in Ohio? They’d been there for what felt like forever and nothing exciting was happening. At all. Sam was driving again and Gabriel, bored to death…seriously who lived in Ohio?...dozed in the afternoon sun. Sam shook him awake not long after, the car off and keys in hand.

“Come on,” He said.

“What?”

“Just come on.” Sam got out of the car and ,bleary eyed, Gabriel followed suit. They were in a zoo parking lot, a family of five all dressed in blue chattered beside them as they fell out of their minivan. Sam grinned at him and Gabriel felt his own smile tug the corner of his mouth. As they walked to concessions, a Hawaii license plate caught his eye from the back of a beat up four door.

“Sam?”

“Gabe?”

“How the hell do they get cars here from Hawaii?”

Sam’s laughter carried them through the steel entrance of the zoo and they melted into he crowd of people, playing tourist for the day. They even fed the giraffes, their long purple tongues licking the food from their outstretched hands and leaving saliva behind. It wasn’t nearly as gross as it sounds.

8

Don’t ever ask Sam about the weird duck. Don’t ever ask either of them about the weird duck. Nor how they ended up soaking wet and tangled in reeds in a pond in the middle of New York. It was the damn ducks fault. Don’t ask unless you want to see them cry with laughter at the memory.

9

‘Mamma’s Fudge Shop’ drew them from the road as night fell behind them. While Gabriel bought every flavor of fudge imaginable, Sam poked around the little roadside shop that was attached. The woman behind the counter was round and cheery, dressed in a polka-dotted number straight out of the fifties. She called them boys and Gabriel kinda loved her. Sam bought a small wooden carving of an angel, not too different from Gabriel if he was being honest. Huge intricate wings stretching from the wooden man’s back. He was the size of Sam’s hand and found a home beside the stone on the dashboard.

10

“Sam?”

“Yeah?” Sam looked at Gabriel from the passenger seat.

“You know earlier, at that rest-stop?”

“Yeah?” Sam reached over to turn down the music so he could hear better.

“Why were the lizards doing that thing?”

“The push up thing?”

“Mhmm,” Gabriel said.

“It’s actually really interesting. Most of the time they do it to show strength to other lizards, but as time passes, scientists are noticing a pattern of it happening, some doing it every day or twice a day…” Sam kept talking and Gabriel got caught up in how his voice sounded and how nice it was to hear Sam talking research again, his eyes bright and his voice filled with passion. Gabriel smiled to himself and turned back to the road while Sam chattered on beside him. This was the only part of life before he’d been missing.

11

“If we pass another fucking Starbucks, I’ll…I’ll…” Gabriel trailed off.

“You’ll what, Gabriel?”

Gabriel caught sight of the familiar green sign up ahead and made a decision. “I’ll go through the drive through and get us some goddamn coffee, damn it.”

He kept his gaze focused and his mouth straight, trying not to let his smile out. Sam burst out laughing, though, and he soon joined. Sure, they’d passed a million Starbucks, two million maybe, but they hadn’t yet stopped at one. The coffee was all right. He’d had better. But, Sam was laughing so who cares if it was at him?

12

The sky was every color at once as the clouds rolled in, huge and booming overhead just as the sunset. Gold mixed with pinks and red and oranges and greys. As the sunset, purples seeped into the picture. Gabriel wanted to take a picture, but he felt like it would disappear if he did. Plus his camera was shit, so it wouldn’t come out right. Instead, just as the rain started hammering on the car roof and Sam pulled over as it became too hard to see, he took a mental picture and smiled at Sammy. They pulled the knitted blanket around themselves, hiding from the chill, as the rain drowned the world.

“You know what they say about the world ending?” Gabriel said.

“What’s that?”

“It’ll only happen when you’re the happiest you could possibly be.”

“Well then we’re fucked,” Sam said, grinning.

13

The burrs were annoying. Gabriel could admit that. As he flicked them from his jeans, he thought about how a year down the line, something green would sprout from that seed he’d carried with him for miles and miles and it would have pieces of him and Sam and _them_ in it as it grew. He thought about that and sent one flying out the window while they sped down the empty street. One pricked his finger, blood welling on his skin, and he threw it angrily outside. He sucked the blood from his thumb and prayed for that one not to grow anything but old. It was an asshole.

14

Gabriel shook Sam awake. Sammy had to see this. He said nothing as they passed, waiting for Sam to notice. The dog, ears flopping in the wind, tongue out and flapping, sunglasses on his face, looked at them from the SUV and Sam lit up into a grin so bright, the sun forgot to be for a moment.

15

In the small run down town somewhere near Maine, they sat at an empty restaurant. The music was too muted to do anything but make them more aware of the quietness of the place. The waitress wore a faded yellow dress and knee-high socks that weren’t white so much as they used-to-be-white. She had frown lines etched into her young face and she called everyone hun. The wallpaper was peeling in large strips to reveal the same faded yellow as her dress hidden behind. The food was half-cold by the time she brought it out to them and Gabriel had the overwhelming urge to wrap his hand around her wrist and take her with them. Take her somewhere where she could breathe again. Smile again. Be again. Everything here, he knew, was a faded version of what it used to be. But, he didn’t. They ate their cold eggs and left a large tip, and even Sam was glad to leave that place in the dust.

16

In landlocked Oklahoma, they laid, sweat cooling on their skin and the hotel sheets rumpled around them, in the middle of the bed. The wall sported a framed sailboat and Gabriel almost said something about how weird that was when Sam pressed a kiss to the spot where Gabriel’s spine met his skill and pulled Gabriel against his body, warm and damp skin meeting his own. He sighed against Sam and they fell asleep instantly, any comment about the boat long forgotten.

17

Their angel statue and stone found themselves surrounded by postcards as the days turned into weeks.

18

“Fucking asshole,” Gabriel grumbled. He’d been crouched down, the sky dark around him, as he tried to coax a cat from the bushes behind the gas station. He had seen it streak by, it’s body white with spots of orange and black, like a goddamn painting Sam, he’d said. He followed it behind the small building and to the sparse bushes there and whispered to the cat as its eyes flashed yellow. He just wanted to pet the damn thing, but it kept its eyes narrowed.

Sam tugged him from his crouching position, his knees creaking as he stood, and walked him back to the car as he complained. Sam pressed a kiss to Gabriel’s cheek while he muttered and Gabriel felt the anger ease, just a little. Sam kissed, quick and chaste, and he started the car with a smile. Gabriel let his irritation go, knowing Sam was just trying to cheer him up. The cat was still an asshole, though.

19

The corn stalks stretched for miles along the dirt road and Gabriel didn’t know how to react. Who the fuck was going to eat it all? Harvest it all? Sam turned into a little dirt lot and parked his car, climbing out into the pink afternoon. Gabriel followed to find a corn maze, a dozen other people standing around or walking the pumpkin patch or on the hayride. Sam pulled him through the entrance and together they got lost among the corn. They stole kisses at every dead end, kept their hands linked with each turn. When they got lost, like really really haven’t-we-already-been-this-way-and-look-its-almost-night lost, they followed two children, one still tottering on newly discovered legs, as they made their way out of the corn with ease. The shame they felt for their failure was short lived when Sam pulled Gabriel onto the hayride and they snuggled together under the stars.

20

Gabriel stared not at the sparkling water of the small river, nor at the grass deep green and luscious around it. He did not hear the birds chirping merrily from the swaying treetops nor did he feel the sun, warming him. Instead, he stared at Sam as Sam stared at all the beauty around them in this clearing. He turned to smile at Gabriel and Gabriel felt the words he’d been holding onto for so long just tumble out.

“I love you.” He froze, doubt paralyzing him.

“I love you too,” Sam said, his smile unfaltering and his tone simple. Gabriel was relived. That was that then.

He sat down in the grass, Sam beside him and they, with fingers linked and Gabriel’s head resting against Sam’s shoulder, looked out at the river and the trees. After the dew of the grass had seeped its way through Gabriel’s jeans and the sun had started to dip behind the treetops, Sam got up, dusting his pants off with his hands, and pulled Gabriel up. They walked together back, climbing into the car, and started their journey back home.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think or maybe consider reblogging the fic on tumblr  here ? But only if you liked it and want to :)


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